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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Five years ago, the life of a person who was in my circle took a turn for the worse, and it just so happened that many people whom I had not seen in awhile ended up at the hospital for support of this young man whose life was hanging in the balance.

It was apparent that a few of these people whom I have not seen in awhile had been working out. Their bodies and spirits reflected that they had been taking some awfully good care of their inner bodies.

There is no way that I can not see this type of change in someone and not acknowledge it, and of course they told me about their health journey with this wonderful personal trainer named Berhane.

At this time I was religiously going to the gym, running lots of miles, and I thought my diet was pretty good. So, when they suggested that I try Berhane, I was reluctant; I already had a plan. However, Berhane ended up coming to the hospital, and I was completely drawn into his quiet, caring personality. However, what I loved about him the most is that he was not trying to convince me that I needed to work out with me. He confidently spoke about his services, and after talking to him, I knew that I had to at least try him once.

My first workout with him was hard and eye-opening; I was definitely not in the shape that I thought I was. However, he did not make me feel bad about that fact, but he let me know that I could improve. In the beginning I was doing his workouts with all of my heart, but it took me a little longer to get on board with my diet. Being a happy hour girl, I loved my drinks and what I thought was good food on the weekends. What I didn’t know is that my eating habits on the weekends were completely destroying my workouts. (Working out does not make up for bad eating habits!) Finally, I got the full revelation that diet and exercise go hand in hand, and the rest is history!

I have been training with Berhane every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for the last five years, and I hope to be training with him for quite a long while into the future...

What I know for sure is:

Our health is our wealth, and it ain't a destination; it’s a journey. I remember thinking that when I reached a certain size, or at the end of the first year, then the second year, I could relax. However, Berhane quickly reminded that relaxing would have me ending up right back where I was before: high body fat, slightly high cholesterol, fatigued etc.

My people, I have to be vigilant, making sure that I work out and be conscious about every single thing that I put in my mouth. There is no ideal number on the scale at all, but there is an ideal lifestyle that we can strive for, and that is one that puts our health first.

When I first started training with Berhane, I just wanted to lose weight, but he reminded me over and over again that “If I take care of the inside of my body, the outside would take care of itself.” Now for most of us, we love the outward appearance; what folks can see when we have our clothes on and when we do not. However, I have learned that the outside of our bodies are a direct reflection of the inside. When our insides are hydrated, nourished with good foods, and worked with quite a bit of intensity, the reward is that the outside of our bodies reflect the healthiness of the inside of our bodies.

These last five years have been better than I can even articulate. You know, just knowing where I will be on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays at 4 brings me a lot of comfort and reduces the anxiety of when to fit in the workouts. I plan most of my meals, and guys this ain't something that I like to do, but it sure does help me to monitor what I eat.

In addition to working out with Berhane where we mostly focus on me having a lean body with more muscle than fat through strength training and diet, I make sure that I do lots of cardio, and I just happened to have found a cardio activity that I absolutely love, cycling, and I cycle five or six days a week even during the winter.

My people, it’s been five years, and I promise, I wouldn't believe it if I did not have four previous anniversary blogs that are reminders that it really has been five, good years. These five years have been fun and rewarding, and I can not even imagine a life where I did not did put my health first.

If you are reading this blog and you are on a health journey, keep on keeping on. However, if you need to take your journey to another level, switch it up, or even get started, remember, it is never to late to work on your health. I can guarantee you that once you make taking care of your health apart of what you do, you will have a better life overall.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

In this book, Carol discusses her research on the mind. Carol breaks down our beliefs into two categories: fixed vs. growth mindset, and we can go back and forth between the two mindsets.

People with a growth mindset believes that their qualities and abilities can be cultivated; they can change with effort. People with the growth mindset do not have to always be seen as the smartest person or the best at everything; this mindset values learning, failing, and learning from the failure.

People with a fixed mindset believes that we have all of the abilities that we will ever have and the abilities are fixed; we can’t change our qualities or abilities. These people do not want people to see them fail, they feel that they must always show their good side, and do not value effort.

To a person with a fixed mindset a failure is the end of the world, but to a person with a growth mindset, failure means an opportunity to learn, and that person will try and try and try over and over.

Carol gives the example of Michael Jordan having to literally work and work to become Michael Jordan; he had to cultivate his basketball skills. The famous Picasso painted horribly for years until he practiced and practiced and practiced and became the Picasso that we know today. Darwin’s work on The Original of Species took years of teamwork and half a lifetime of dedication before it came to fruition. Most folks ain't a natural at anything; but Oh the value of hard work and dedication.

Now, let me tell you how this book applies to me... I believe and know for a fact that we can change our intelligence and almost every area of our lives if we believe that we can and work at it. We can study and become better at math, writing, reading, and even at the arts. We can become more considerate, compassionate etc. I believe that every student, person, and myself can become better in every single area of our lives. I must believe this in order to be a teacher right? (I surely hope that all people who work with children believe that people can improve.)

However, with cycling, I was beginning to believe that I could not get better. Now, I’ve come a long way from where I started and that improvement came from just riding as often as I could. I LOVE CYCLING! However, competitive cycling took me completely out of my comfort zone and was stealing my joy of cycling, because I was not seeing improvements right away. (fixed mindset!) I am not a natural athlete at all. So, for me to be a competitive cyclist, I have to work my butt off and then enter races and get dropped. (Dropped means that the other cyclist leave you behind!) I was and was not enjoying the journey. I enjoyed thecamaraderie of racing but did not enjoy being last. However, I just couldn't give up.

My first year of racing I did not know anything about cycling workouts or what to do to get better, and my team did not offer any support at all. So, of course, my first year of racing I was getting dropped and was always the last person to finish each race. Can I tell you that I cried, felt embarrassed, had self-doubt and everything else that you can name? However, I kept going back, because I enjoyed it, but I had no idea what to do to be competitive. During my second year of racing, I still did not know anything about cycling workouts, and I was getting my butt ran in the ground. Finally, I started hearing people talk about workouts, and I decided to hire a coach. Also, I switched to a more supportive cycling team.

Now, I have a cycling coach, and he works my butt off. But, because of my first two years of unsuccessful racing, I am having to work on my mindset. Yep, I am having to work on mindset. I was beginning to believe that I could not get better, and it did not help that I changed racing teams and on my first ride with them I struggled and struggled bad. I was not focusing on the fact that I was learning from my team and my new teammates were super supportive and helpful. I was focusing on the fact that I probably looked like a failure to my new team...(fixed mindset!) Of course, I went home and called my coach and blamed him. We almost parted ways, but we didn't thankfully. (He did not give up on me.)

Now, when I put my cycling life in the grand scheme of things, I am a pretty good cyclist; however, to ride with the big boys, I am going to have to train, train, train and give up riding for fun all of the time. I must do the workouts so that I can enjoy the rides that I do for pleasure and enjoy competing. Also, I must be prepared for failures along the way. (Growth Mindset.. Failing ain’t easy for me.)

I have been doing every single one of my workouts and praying that I am getting stronger.... Now, do you hear that doubt? (Fixed mindset.) My people, you know and I know that I am getting stronger. (Growth Mindset.)

Two weeks ago I had my first race of this season, and because I had convinced myself that I am not good with climbing because of being dropped on hills quite often, (fixed mindset), the small incline that was on the race course was mentally freaking me out... I was not focusing on my improvements from all the workouts that I had been doing to get stronger, and of course, I got dropped on the very first lap.

I cried and felt crazy and talked to my coach who was surprised that I had gotten dropped so quickly, and he talked to me about my mindset. He state that “You must believe that you belong in the race.” And, before he stated this, I did not realize that I may have been having those thoughts.

Of course, I belong in the race, because I have being working hard like the other racers to be in the race. After much thought, I am convinced that my fixed mindset caused me to get dropped in that first race, not my abilities.

Since that first race, I have been determined to enjoy every workout and every ride. I am looking forward to riding with folks who are stronger than me so that I can learn and grow. I have decided to no longer feel bad about getting dropped, but acknowledge that getting dropped is part of the growing experience and having a growth mindset. Now, don't think that it will be easy to change my mindset, but just because it won't be easy, it does not mean that I will not do it.

I am going to continue to do my workouts, ride for fun, and compete...

Monday, April 18, 2016

One of my students did a presentation on this book, and she suggested that I read it, and I did.

This is one of those books that I have put on my “recommend to everybody” list, because it brings up a very important question that we could probably ponder forever and never, ever come up with a single answer: “Why do some people ‘make it’ and some people don’t? Notice that I put “make it” in quotation marks, because that is another idea that we could probably ponder forever and ever and ever......

Both Wes Moores started their lives in similar neighborhoods, were raised by single mothers, and were subjected to failing schools early on. However, one went to college and one is in prison for life. How in the world did this happen? In the very beginning of the book, Wes states that “This book is meant to show that our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step in the right one.” (Hmmmmmmm!!)f

After reading this book, I fully understood the story of the Wes Moore who made it; his story is similar to mine... My folks found a way to instill the importance of school, I went to ok schools and had ok grades, my parents made a way out of no way for me to attend college, and that was that. Yea, I could have been a teenage mother, could have dropped out of school, or could have done a whole bunch of other stuff that could have sent my life on a different course. However, thanks to parents who were very clear about what I was and was not going to do, siblings who went before me and paved the way, and “tentative steps in the right direction," I ended up going to college. So, I am wondering what does expectations, especially our parents’ expectations, have to do with how we feel about ourselves and the decisions that we make?

However, the story of the Wes Moore that ended up in prison for life is the story that has been haunting me every since I read it.... I have been trying to understand why he didn't go to school regularly, didn’t use condoms, sold and used drugs, participated in crimes etc?

I've been thinking about the cutting of Pell Grants to pay for college that caused the imprisoned Wes Moore’s mom to have to drop out of college, I've been thinking about equity vs. equality when it comes to public school funding, I've been thinking about teenage pregnancy and is there anything that we can do to reduce that number, I've been thinking about public housing, I've been thinking about the decision making process, I've been thinking about fate! - All of the things that seem to have impacted Moore’s life. I am not sure if these things added up to play a part in Moore being in prison for life, or was it simply that Moore did not have anyone to believe in him, he did not believe in himself, or did he just take “a single stumble down the wrong path." (I wish I had an answer?) If we somehow managed to go back and fix every single issue in the incarcerated Wes Moore’s life, would he be in prison for life?

The Wes Moores’ stories are all about race and racism, and we must add these stories to the many other stories to continue the discussions to identify and combat systematic racism. I heard Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, speak, and he stated that “We are taught to stay away from tough neighborhoods, but that is where we are needed the most.”

My people, I wish I had some solutions to offer people like the Wes Moore who ended up in prison, but sadly, I just don't have any right now.

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About Me

I absolutely love books. I am devoting this page mainly to write about books and authors. After years and years of reading great books, I am ready to dialogue with the world about books. Like Langston Hughes, I know that "Literature is a Big Sea Full of Many Fish."